In October 2023, the worst storm surge in more than 150 years hit the Baltic Sea coast.It destroyed dikes, collapsed coastal cliffs and devastated marinas in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein and parts of southern Denmark.
The catastrophic surge wiped away 2.68 meters (8.79 feet) of coastal bluff in Kiel, a port city and Schleswig-Holstein’s capital. That was more than four times the yearly average lost over the previous two decades.
Human-made climate change is supercharging extreme weather such as storms. And in coastal cities like Kiel, the consequences are already impossible to ignore.
“The impacts of climate change are hardly abstract in Kiel,” said Martina Baum, who heads the city’s climate adaptation division. “Since at least the 2023 storm surge, we have all been reminded of the profound effects it can have on us, on our daily lives, and on the environment around us.”
Those effects are forcing Kiel — among the first cities to declare a climate emergency back in 2019 — to rethink how it works and is designed. It has since become a frontrunner in adapting to the realities of a changing climate, establishing Baum’s division in 2025 to help make the city more resilient to weather extremes and adopting an adaptation plan in February 2026 to step up those measures.
Is climate adaptation giving up on fighting climate change?
For city officials like Baum, adaptation is not a substitute for cutting the fossil fuel emissions heating the planet. Climate protection remains the first line of defense, because limiting warming will reduce future damage.
“For a long time, there was hesitation to engage officially with the issue of climate change adaptation. I also felt uneasy about it at first, because it felt as though it would somehow take the pressure off climate protection efforts,” Baum told DW.
But the move to adaptation in Kiel reflects what’s happening in other cities around the world from Santa Cruz in the USto Quezon City in the Philippines, as governments increasingly prepare for the impacts of heat, heavier rainfall and stronger storm surges that are already here.
That doesn’t mean climate protection and adaptation always align. Installing power-hungry air-conditioning in housing, daycare or senior centers, for instance, protects vulnerable people in heat waves. But it increases energy consumption, “which would run counter to climate protection goals,” Baum said.
“Even if we use renewable energy, demand is not yet covered by renewable sources 100% of the time, so any additional energy we consume will ultimately result in the emission of climate-damaging greenhouse gases,” added Baum.
Redesigning cities for unavoidable impacts
While AC will sometimes be necessary, Kiel is working on solutions that cool the city naturally. It’s adding vegetation to building facades, redesigning a park to channel cooler air into the city center, and making it easier for residents to access permits, information, and grants for adaptation projects.
The city is also testing which tree species can survive future conditions. A decade ago, Kiel planted five specimens each of 20 different species to find out which can best withstand heat, drought and salt spray from the nearby Baltic Sea.
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Trees provide shade, cool streets by roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) and improve air quality, but not every species will thrive as the climate changes.
“There is no one-size-fits-all climate tree; different sites require different tree species,” said Nicole Holz, who works in the department responsible for the city’s green spaces.
The research requires patience.
“It’s going to take some 20, 30 years until you get some real results,” said Petra Holtappel, head of the same department.
Living differently: No more daytime soccer?
Adapting to climate change will also require changes to daily life, said Baum. Children, for example, may no longer be able to play soccer tournaments at 3 p.m. because it’s too hot.
Although Kiel is getting warmer, it is expected to fare better than much hotter Southern or Central Europe when it comes to heat. Still, the city is vulnerable to more storm surges and heavy rain and needs more retention areas to manage all that excess water. The city is dredging the park’s pond to store stormwater during heavy rainfall but is also exploring other ideas.
“One idea is what’s known as multi-use design, meaning that in future, a soccer pitch could be built slightly lower than the surrounding area. During periods of heavy rain, water could then be directed there and allowed to gradually infiltrate into the ground or evaporate,” Baum said.
The downside is the pitch might be unusable for up to 60 days a year, she added. But residents would need accept that, said Baum, who emphasized the need for greater public debate about adaptation measures.
How to reach people who don’t think about the climate?
Helping residents understand those trade-offs and what’s at stake is part of Annafried Stürmer’s work. Stürmer organizes educational events, leads public excursions with scientists and attends neighborhood fairs to meet people who might not otherwise engage with climate issues.
At Kiel Week, the world’s biggest annual sailing event, Stürmer displayed a map showing city flood risk from extreme rainfall.
“People often find that interesting, because it doesn’t immediately seem like it’s connected to climate change. Instead, the initial reaction is , ‘Wow, if we get one of those intense heavy rainfall events, my house could be in serious trouble,’ or ‘My backyard could end up flooded,’” Stürmer said.
Stürmer has often found it easier to talk about climate adaptation than about climate change because the former is more tangible.
“It’s easier to talk about the need for a better-developed sewer system to handle heavy rainfall, or about planting different types of trees and vegetation, than it is to talk about reducing CO2 emissions,” Stürmer told DW.
Recent record heat waves have made the adaptation conservation more urgent too.
“People noticed that it hadn’t been as hot before,” she said, adding residents increasingly recognize the need to protect children, the elderly, pregnant women and outdoor workers.
Climate adaptation not ‘optional’
Even with growing public awareness of the need for adaptation, funding remains a problem in cash-strapped Kiel. Still seen as optional, climate action can quickly come under pressure when budgets tighten.
“I disagree with the idea that climate adaptation and climate action are optional responsibilities. I keep asking myself: what are the alternatives?” Baum said. “After all, it has been demonstrated time and again that investing in climate adaptation and climate mitigation will simply pay off.”
Edited by: Jennifer Collins
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